These are a collection of thoughts I’ve had about the world of sports the past few days.  None of them really deserve a full length article, so they’re all just kinda thrown together here.

I’m not quite sure what the Dodgers are trying to do with their offer to Manny Ramirez.  It’s rumored to be two years for $45 million.  I understand the concept of low balling to start of negotiations, but I get the feeling that Scott Boras is going to do to that offer what manager Lou Brown did to Roger Dorn’s contract in Major League, that is, take a piss on it.

Major League Baseball should probably take away the San Diego Padres right to call themselves a major league organization.  The only players who matter in San Diego (Jake Peavy, Adrian Gonzalez, and Trevor Hoffman) have all indicated that they have at least some interest in playing elsewhere because the team apparently has no plans to try to win.

These reports that MLB would never let Mark Cuban buy the Cubs are somewhat troubling to me.  If he is the highest bidder (which is probably a safe bet) why not let him buy the team?  Apparently Bud Selig is afraid of having an owner who will have the guts to stand up and say how bad he sucks as a commissioner.

It’s probably a safe bet to say that if Nick Saban went to Washington he could make the Huskies a contender within 3 years, right?  It’s also probably safe to assume he isn’t going to stay at Alabama for too long, he doesn’t exactly strike me as the loyal type.

I’m wonder what sort of golf karma is going to hit this idiot.  Here’s a guy who has recorded five hole-in-one’s in one week, something bad has to happen to him on the course right?  He must have had the worst bounces ever seen to man for the past 10 years in order to deserve recording a hole in one five times in one week.

The deadline trade that brought Manny Ramirez to Los Angeles is looking more and more brilliant with each home run he hits.  Manny has been flat out unconscious since coming to California, hitting .400 in that span with 19 home runs and over 50 rbi’s.  The Dodgers have transformed from a middle of the road team that may have had more expectations on its new manager than a postseason berth into a hitting machine, bruising through the final month of the season and currently standing with an all but guaranteed playoff series win versus the Cubs after two convincing beat downs at Wrigley.  Give the credit to Manny.

Believe what you will, but this stretch that Manny has put together is hardly a fluke.  Ramirez is one of the greatest hitters to ever play the game, and is evidencing that now more than ever in Los Angeles.  At 36 years old, Ramirez is proving that when he tries on a consistent basis, he’s damn near unstoppable.  Now that he’s become united with a much more laid back region of the country, it appears as if Manny has found a match made in heaven.  He can get away with being a lazy and off the wall character because he fits right in with half of Southern California.  The guy wears #99 for Gods’ sake.  He doesn’t have to deal with the tight-assholed pricks in the Northeast who couldn’t stand his antics and let him hear about it everywhere he went.  This is Los Angeles.  These are people who show up to games in the 3rd and leave in the 7th.  Theres ten thousand more important things to do than let Manny know about what a horrible game he had the other night or why he didn’t run out a grounder.

The NL West took a lot of heat during the season (and rightfully so) for being the worst division in baseball.  However, it’s becoming more and more evident with every bomb Manny hits that the Dodgers are one of the strongest teams in the playoffs.  I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen someone play this dominant for this long of a stretch since I began watching baseball.  Manny is unconscious, and until he wakes up from his California dream, there’s no reason to think the Dodgers are going to slow down.

How many times have we heard Curt Schilling fire off blasts at teammates, former teammates, and even athletes from different sports on his stupid ass blog and on radio shows.  Schilling is the pretentious dick who takes it upon himself to weasel his way into everyone elses business while he’s sitting on his ass rehabbing one of his age-induced injuries.  Well he’s at it again, this time with former Chowdah star Manny Ramirez.

Schilling alleges that Ramirez was not only a bad teammate but also disrespected everyone in the Red Sox lineup by acting like a seven year old.  Schilling called Ramirez’s disrespect to his teammates “unfathomable.”  Okay Curt, we get it.  Manny didn’t give a shit at times in Boston.  He’s gone now, so get over it.  Good to hear that “The Captain” Jason Varitek really had a hold on that clubhouse.

While what Schilling said has some validity to it, what’s the real point of him saying it?  Is this shocking news that nobody knew about?  No.  This is just another case of Curt Schilling waking up, burning his eggs, not being able to find two matching socks, and calling into a Boston radio station to blast a former teammate to vent his anger.  Fix your arm before you start fixing the teams problems, asshole.

Boy, Manny looks like he’s giving up on his team in LA.  He’s really been apathetic since he got there, not trying hard or anything.  Oh wait, he’s hitting .400?  He’s single-handedly led the Dodgers into the division lead?  He’s revived baseball in LA?  Huh, who would have thought.  I guess such is life on Planet Man-Ram.  Oh and Schilling, I’ll give you a six-pence to shut the hell up.

We’ve wrapped up our live blog coverage, but 30 minutes after the trade deadline officially passed, we’re finally getting some information about Boston’s Manny Ramirez, who appears to be on his way to Los Angeles. More information as we get it.

According to the MLB.com Trade Deadline Blog:

Just when it seemed the Red Sox weren’t going to be able to find a deal for star slugger Manny Ramirez, they have reportedly dealt the right-handed hitting run producer to the Los Angeles Dodgers. SI.com reported the news. The Boston Globe also reported that the Red Sox had traded Ramirez, but didn’t say where. Rumblings are that Jason Bay is in fact going from Pittsburgh to Boston to make it a three-way deal.

Update 1:33 PM PST: It sounds official. SI.com is reporting the following:

The Red Sox traded Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers late Thursday afternoon, SI.com has learned.

Jason Bay is headed to Boston as part of the deal, SI.com has learned. The Pirates will get four minor leaguers in the three-way trade.

Update 1:42 PM PST: The Pirates received Bryan Morris and Andy LaRoche from Los Angeles. They also received Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen from Boston.

In completely useless relevant Spring Training news, Manny Ramirez has become the newest Luis Gonzalez. Is he a roided journeyman that suddenly found his power stroke at the age of 31? No. But Ramirez has pulled a Gonzo and put some used merchandise on eBay. It’s not chewed bubble gum. It’s a grill.

“I’m a businessman,” he said with a laugh. “I need the money.”

No Manny, you really don’t. But assuming all of those bids are legitimate (lol), Ramirez is due to make $99,999,999 for his $4,000 barbecue. Clearly, this thing won’t be on eBay for long. But it’s a good story while it lasts. Imagine the fervor that Ramirez would have caused if he was selling a different type of grill.

“Hi, I’m Manny Ramirez,” the listing said. “I bought this AMAZING grill for about $4,000 and I used it once. … But I never have the time to use it because I am always on the road. I would love to sell it and you will get an autographed ball signed by me.

Considering you could find an autographed ball for a couple hundred bucks, shelling out $100 million for a barbecue seems a bit much. Whether its him being thrown into trade talks or him being a businessman, you’re going to hear about Manny Ramirez. He can rule out one person in the auction: teammate JD Drew, whose already said that he’s “not buying it.” Hey JD, the next time I want your opinion, I’ll throw a battery at you.

How great is Manny Ramirez? The man simply lives on planet Man-Ram, does what he pleases, rakes 40 bombs, and drives in 130 rbi’s. Who else can leave the field during a pitching change and go to the bathroom in the green monster. Who else can wear sunglasses with a built in MP3 player during a game. Nobody.

The latest event on planet Man-Ram was his apparent delay to report to camp. Ramirez told Red Sox officials that he would be reporting to camp a few days late because he was taking care of his ill mother. Apparently, according to a man who was running a car show in Atlantic City, the reason Manny was going to be late to Sox camp was because he was scheduled to make an appearance at the show. Of course, Manny’s agent denied the claim and stuck to the original story. Well, guess who decided to show up to camp on time, ahead of his scheduled date? Man-Ram.

ESPN has been all over this story, and why not. ESPN loves Manny, and they love how he doesn’t care about anything. It’s a guarantee that Manny will go deep 40 times and its a guarantee that ESPN will swirl his name in trade talks weeks before the trade deadline. Manny always seems to want out, but Manny never wants to pull the trigger to get out. This anomaly would be explainable but…yep, you guessed it, its just Manny being Manny.

Until he actually gets traded, actually runs out a routine grounder, or actually does something that makes sense, I think it’s best if we just let Manny be himself. It’s obvious that nobody can put together what’s going on in his mind, so why try. Just let him do his thing, let ESPN do theirs, and let everything in Chowder Town be peaceful again